The first black undergraduate to be accepted an all-white state supported institution in Virginia occurred in 1953, with the admission of Irving Linwood Peddrew as an electrical engineering student. The Board of Visitors ruled that no state-supported school for Negroes offered comparable training, and the Virginia attorney-general had advised that Supreme Court rulings took precedence over Virginia's racial segregation laws.<ref>"Negro to Study at V. P. I.; 1st of Race to Enger State-Aided White School as Freshman." ''The New York Times,'' September 12, 1953, p. 19</ref> | The first black undergraduate to be accepted an all-white state supported institution in Virginia occurred in 1953, with the admission of Irving Linwood Peddrew as an electrical engineering student. The Board of Visitors ruled that no state-supported school for Negroes offered comparable training, and the Virginia attorney-general had advised that Supreme Court rulings took precedence over Virginia's racial segregation laws.<ref>"Negro to Study at V. P. I.; 1st of Race to Enger State-Aided White School as Freshman." ''The New York Times,'' September 12, 1953, p. 19</ref> |